WWE legend and Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin is definitely one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling and also WWE’s one of the greatest superstars. Stone Cold retired in 2003 after facing The Rock at WrestleMania 19 due to a serious neck injury that could have left him paralyzed for life. Several years later, Steve Austin made his in-ring return at WrestleMania 38 and fought against Kevin Owens in the main event.
Stone Cold drops easter eggs
After that, several reports suggested that Stone Cold could be taking part in even more matches. He was also rumored to be facing off against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, but the plans were scrapped after Cody Rhodes took the match. Recently, Steve Austin has hinted at his WWE return at WrestleMania 41 while speaking to The Athletic. He said, “I won’t leave Nevada. It’s hard to get me out of this state. But WrestleMania is in Vegas next year. That’s in Nevada.”
Austin was set to appear at WrestleMania XL
There was a lot of buzz surrounding Stone Cold’s return at WrestleMania XL this year. When The American Nightmare was fighting The Tribal Chief, The Rock and the rest of the Bloodline, Stone Cold was expected to return at the end to save Cody Rhodes from The Final Boss. However, Steve Austin’s almost-scheduled return was canceled in the final segment of WrestleMania 40. The Undertaker took his place and choke-slammed The Rock, which Cody took advantage of and pinned Roman Reigns to become the new WWE Undisputed Champion.
According to a report, the original plan for WrestleMania 40 was for the “Rattlesnake” to make a surprise return and help Cody against The Rock. However, the plans were canceled at short notice and The Undertaker took Austin’s place eventually.
In fact, former WWE employee Vince Russo revealed why Steve Austin did not appear at WrestleMania despite the company dropping easter eggs ahead of the event. In an interview with Sportskeeda, Russo stated that there was a reason Austin wasn’t on that show.
“I knew Steve well and I’ll tell you why Austin wasn’t on that show. He didn’t want to be one of several. Austin is probably the one guy who is more protective of his character than anybody. There is no doubt they called Austin for that. The story was Rock and Austin. But Austin is not going to be one of several,” said Russo.
WrestleMania 41 can be the biggest mania ever
The preparations are already underway to make WrestleMania 41 one of the biggest ever. WWE legend John Cena has also announced that WrestleMania 41 will be his last. There are rumors that The Rock will return for next year’s WrestleMania and Steve Austin is hinting at making an appearance too. So WrestleMania 41 could prove to be more iconic than WrestleMania 39.
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